Mark Moody gets asked all the time: How does a guy who doesn't walk teach people to drive?

His answer is that although he is able to drive, he teaches the classroom lessons and his employees work behind the wheel.

Moody, 40, opened Coastal Virginia Driving Academy in Newport News on April 1. A quadriplegic since age 17, the lifelong Newport News resident said owning his own business was the next logical step for him and his family.

"I'm pretty impressed with what I've done so far, considering I came into it with nothing," Moody said. "I'm going strictly by word of mouth right now, passed out business cards galore."

Moody has worked in driver training since graduating from Christopher Newport University in 1997.

The accident that left him paralyzed occurred the summer before his senior year at Menchville High School. He and friends were jumping on a trampoline in the backyard of his girlfriend, now his wife, when he fell back and his seventh cervical bone was crushed.

He went through rehabilitation and home schooling for a semester, returning to Menchville for the second semester of his senior year to graduate with his class in 1992. The injury left him with mobility in his arms, but not his legs, hands or triceps.

"I accepted it early on. I was just the type that said, 'Hey, it happened, I've got to go,' " Moody said. "I said, 'I need to go.' I wanted to get out of that hospital.

"I wanted to get back to all my friends. I wanted to go back to doing something other than sitting in a room and wallowing in self-pity," he said.

He got a Camaro after the accident and practiced getting into the car, taking apart his wheelchair and stowing it. He did it over and over again until he worked out the best routine.

"That's just the way I do it," Moody said. "I have a system for doing things. And once I figure out my system, it makes it easy for me."

It's been the same with the driving school. He got all the necessary paperwork, along with renting an office, hiring employees and buying three cars.

Longtime friend Erick Mays, of Newport News, went to high school and college with Moody, and is helping with the driving school.

"He's certainly overcome an awful lot of obstacles in his life," Mays said. "And this injury that necessitated a total lifestyle change really didn't slow Mark down one bit. He was always a very motivated and intelligent guy.

"Him being in a position to own his own business, there was no doubt that was going to happen somewhere down the road," Mays said.

Moody and his high school girlfriend, Karla, split up not long after the accident. They reunited in 2000, married and have two children.

Karla Moody, a reading specialist for Newport News Public Schools, said Mark was always laid back and friendly, and that he always has very much managed his own mobility. He taught both of his sons to ride bicycles and played wheelchair tennis for years.

"He was determined that things were going to be normal regardless," she said.

The new business represents a dream for their family.

"I was very excited for him because it is something that he's always wanted," Karla Moody said. "So it was nice to help him fulfill one of his dreams."

Though qualified to teach behind the wheel, Moody handles the classroom instruction portion, saying he enjoys talking in front of people. He recently spoke to his son's Cub Scout den, which he leads, as part of a disability awareness project. Ever since his recovery, he has spoken to groups and made himself available on a peer network to counsel recently injured patients.

"Basically the only thing you can say is it sucks, but life's not over," Moody said. "You've got to keep on moving."

He emphasizes safety for young people on the road and elsewhere, stressing the use of seat belts and avoiding distractions while driving.

"One of my main concerns in this business is looking out for the safety of the kids out there, and trying to instill upon them that it only takes a second," he said. "It only takes a split second, and that's one of the things you have to realize. So you have to appreciate life and watch those choices you make."